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AP Government Vocabulary > AP Government Exam Vocab > Flashcards

AP Government Exam Vocab Flashcards

Work towards an A on the AP Government Exam.

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1
Q

Equality in political decision making: one vote per person, with all votes counted equally.

A

political equality

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2
Q

Equality in wealth, education, and status.

A

social equality

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3
Q

The idea that each person is guaranteed the same chance to succeed in life.

A

equality of opportunity

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4
Q

The concept that society must ensure that people are equal, and governments must design policies to redistribute wealth and status so that economic and social equality is actually achieved.

A

equality of outcome

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5
Q

A consistent set of values and beliefs about the proper purpose and scope of government.

A

political ideology

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6
Q

An economic doctrine that opposes any form of government intervention in business.

A

laissez faire

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7
Q

A system of government in which the power to govern is concentrated in the hands of one individual. Also called monarchy.

A

autocracy

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8
Q

A system of government in which power is concentrated in the hands of a few people.

A

oligarchy

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9
Q

A system of government in which, in theory, the people rule, either directly or indirectly.

A

democracy

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10
Q

A view of democracy as being embodied in a decision-making process that involves universal participation, political equality, majority rule, and responsiveness.

A

procedural democratic theory

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11
Q

The classical theory of democracy in which government by the people is interpreted as government by the majority of the people.

A

majoritarian model of democracy

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12
Q

An interpretation of democracy in which government by the people is taken to mean government by people operating through competing interest groups.

A

pluralist model of democracy

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13
Q

A process of transition as a country attempts to move from an authoritarian form of government to a democratic one.

A

democratization

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14
Q

The belief that the people agree to set up rulers for certain purposes and thus have the right to resist or remove rulers who act against those purposes.

A

social contract theory

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15
Q

A government without a monarch; a government rooted in the consent of the governed, whose power is exercised by elected representatives responsible to the governed.

A

republic

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16
Q

A loose association of independent states that agree to cooperate on specified matters.

A

confederation

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17
Q

A majority greater than the minimum of 50 percent plus one.

A

extraordinary majority

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18
Q

A form of government in which power resides in the people and is exercised by their elected representatives.

A

republicanism

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19
Q

The division of power between a central government and regional governments.

A

federalism

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20
Q

The power to declare congressional (and presidential) acts invalid because they violate the Constitution.

A

judicial review

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21
Q

The clause in Article VI of the Constitution that asserts that national laws take precedence over state and local laws when they conflict.

A

supremacy clause

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22
Q

The collected attitudes of citizens concerning a given issue or question.

A

public opinion

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23
Q

The complex process by which people acquire their political values.

A

political socialization

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24
Q

Position in society, based on a combination of education, occupational status, and income.

A

socioeconomic status

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25
Q

The implication that people choose what benefits them personally.

A

self-interest principle

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26
Q

The difference between the results of random samples taken at the same time.

A

sampling error

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27
Q

Continuous surveys that enable a campaign to chart its daily rise or fall in support.

A

tracking poll

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28
Q

The means employed in mass communication; often divided into print media and broadcast media.

A

mass media

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29
Q

Leaders who follow news in specific policy areas.

A

attentive policy elites

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30
Q

The process in which a few policy elites gather information and then inform their more numerous followers, mobilizing them to apply pressure to government.

A

two-step flow of communication

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31
Q

The degree to which a news story is important enough to be covered in the mass media.

A

newsworthiness

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32
Q

Both reporting news and running commercials geared to a target audience defined by demographic characteristics.

A

market-driven journalism

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33
Q

A situation that is so “newsworthy” that the mass media are compelled to cover it; candidates in eleections often create such situations to garner media attention.

A

media event

34
Q

A list of issues that need government attention.

A

political agenda

35
Q

The rule that requires broadcast stations to sell campaign air time equally to all candidates if they choose to sell it to any.

A

equal time rule

36
Q

Actions of private citizens by which they seek to influence or support government and politics.

A

political participation

37
Q

Relatively routine political behavior that uses institutional channels and is acceptable to the dominant culture.

A

conventional participation

38
Q

Relatively uncommon political behavior that challenges or defies established institutions and dominant norms.

A

unconventional participation

39
Q

Unconventional participation that involves assembling crowds to confront businesses and local governments to demand a hearing.

A

direct action

40
Q

Behavior that seeks to modify or reverse government policy to serve political interests.

A

influencing behavior

41
Q

A legal action brought by a person or group on behalf of a numer of people in similar circumstances.

A

class action suit

42
Q

The right to vote; also called franchise.

A

suffrage

43
Q

The right to vote; also called suffrage.

A

franchise

44
Q

The process for removing an elected official from office.

A

recall

45
Q

An election on a political issue.

A

referendum

46
Q

A procedure by which voters can propose an issue to be decided by the legislature or by the people in a referendum; it requires gathering a specified number of signatures and submitting a petition to a designated agency.

A

initiative

47
Q

Citizens eligible to vote.

A

electorate

48
Q

An organization that sponsors candidates for political office under the organization’s name.

A

political party

49
Q

Designation as an official candidate of a political party.

A

nomination

50
Q

A closed meeting of the members of a political party to decide questions of policy and the selection of candidates for office.

A

caucus

51
Q

A gathering of delegates of a single political party from across the country to choose candidates for president and vice president and to adopt a party platform.

A

national convention

52
Q

The statement of policies of a national political party.

A

party platform

53
Q

A centralized party organization that dominates local politics by controlling elections.

A

party machine

54
Q

The system by which one office, contested by two or more candidates, is won by the single candidate who collects the most votes.

A

majority representation

55
Q

The system by which legislative seats are awarded to a party in proportion to the vote that the party wins in an election.

A

proportional representation

56
Q

A group of interests or organizations that join forces for the purpose of electing public officials.

A

coalition

57
Q

The tendency of a lesser-known or weaker candidate lower on the ballot to profit in an election by the presence on the party’s ticket of a more popular candidate.

A

coattail effect

58
Q

A preliminary election conducted within a political party to select candidates who will run for public office in a subsequent election.

A

primary election

59
Q

A primary election in which voters must declare their party affiliation before they are given the primary ballot containing that party’s potential nominees.

A

closed primary

60
Q

A primary election in which voters need not declare their party affiliation and can choose one party’s primary ballot to take into the voting booth.

A

open primary

61
Q

A primary election that allows individual state parties to decide whether they permit independents to vote in their primaries and for which offices.

A

modified closed primary

62
Q

A primary election that entitles independent voters to vote in a party’s primary.

A

modified open primary

63
Q

A special primary election used to select delegates to attend the party’s national convention, which in turn nominates the presidential candidate.

A

presidential primary

64
Q

A national election held by law in November of every even-numbered year.

A

general election

65
Q

In voting, a single party’s candidates for all the offices.

A

straight ticket

66
Q

In voting, candidates from different parties for different offices.

A

split ticket

67
Q

A bipartisan federal agency of six members that oversees the financing of national election campaigns.

A

Federal Election Commision (FEC)

68
Q

Financial contributions given directly to a candidate running for congressional office or the presidency.

A

hard money

69
Q

Funds that are not raised and spent for a specific federal election campaign.

A

soft money

70
Q

Committees named after Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code; they enjoy tax-exempt status in election campaigns if they are unaffiliated with political parties.

A

527 committees

71
Q

An organized group of individuals that seeks to influence public policy; also called a lobby.

A

interest group

72
Q

An organized group of individuals that seeks to influence public policy; also called an interest group. (Person who works with one?)

A

lobbyist

73
Q

The process by which new issues are brought into the political limelight.

A

agenda building

74
Q

The situation in which people benefit from the activities of an organization (such as an interest group) but do not contribute to those activities.

A

free-rider problem

75
Q

An organization that pools campaign contributions from group members and donates those funds to canidates for political office.

A

political action committee

76
Q

Attempts to influence a legislator’s vote through personal contact with the legislator.

A

direct lobbying

77
Q

Keeping track of government programs, usually by interest groups.

A

program monitoring

78
Q

A nonprofit group that may legally address political matters but may not lobby or campaign; donations to it are tax deductible.

A

501(c)(3) organization

79
Q

A nonprofit group that is permitted to lobby and campaign; donations to it are not tax deductible.

A

501(c)(4) organization

80
Q

Lobbying activities performed by rank-and-file interest group members and would-be members.

A

grassroots lobbying

AP Government Vocabulary (4 decks)

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